Conceptualizing Violence and Gender in the Brazilian Context: New Issues and Old Dilemmas

November 9, 2016 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

The Brazil Brown Bag Seminar Series invites you to its discussion titled, “Conceptualizing Violence and Gender in the Brazilian Context: New Issues and Old Dilemmas” with Maria Filomena Gregori, Tenured Professor at the Department of Anthropology, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP).

Conceptualizations of violence against women developed in Brazilian feminism, and legal and institutional measures against violence, are examined from the 1980s to the present. Based on ethnographic studies carried out at the Women’s Police Stations and Special Criminal Courts, and the controversies surrounding the 2006 Brazilian Law on domestic and familial violence, the authors map the meanings of expressions such as ‘violence against women,’ ‘marital violence,’ ‘domestic violence,’ ‘family violence,’ and ‘gender violence.’ The discourse that transforms violence into crime, in the Brazilian context, leads to semantic and institutional developments that replace an interest in politicizing justice for the defense of women with the judicialization of family relations.

Maria Filomena Gregori is an anthropology professor at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. She is also a researcher at the Pagu Center for Gender Studies at UNICAMP. Over the course of her career, she has held various positions including: researcher at the Brazilian Center for Planning and Analysis (CEBRAP, 1986-1999); director of the Brazilian Anthropological Association (ABA, 2007-2009); and the Executive Secretary at the National Association of Graduate Studies and Research in Social Sciences (ANPOCS, 2010-2014). Ms. Gregori is the author of several books and articles, including: Prazeres Perigosos. Erotismo, Gênero e Limites da Sexualidade (Companhia das Letras, 2016); Viração. A Experiência de Meninos nas Ruas (Companhia das Letras, 2000); Cenas e Queixas (Paz e Terra/Anpocs, 1993).